Pet insurance

[Tanaqui]

I looked around today and realized we actually have four animals, none of which are getting younger. (No luck finding original owners of the new dog, which is probably just as well. The state of his coat, nails, and teeth was/is positively disgraceful.)

 

Around here, half my neighbor's pets have only seen a vet once, when somebody - usually me - took them to the van to be fixed. I actually quite like going to the ASPCA van, so long as somebody else pays!

 

It's not that they don't love their pets, they just don't have the cash. So no use asking them what sort of pet insurance they use. I'd get some funny looks!

 

So what do you use? I want the magical insurance that costs pennies per month, but provides 100% reimbursement on everything, with no copay or deductible. Barring that, insurance that is reasonably priced and covers both routine and emergency care will do nicely.

[DawnM]

I think I priced it recently.  It was around $45/mo per pet. I spend far less than $500/year on pets, so it didn't seem worth it to me.

That is around $5,000 over the course of 10 years PER dog.

 

I spend $300 every 3 years, when rabies shots are due.  Other than that, I have (in the past 20 years) have spent $400 on a surgery, $200 on one emergency Vet visit. 

 

The 2 dogs who have passed away so far were both over 10 years old and healthy.  Our 3rd dog is still living and doing well.

 

And no, there is no magical insurance.  Maybe your dog can get a job that includes healthcare benefits.    :lol:

[Petrichor]

When my DH was job hunting, I told him he should ask the potential employer if they offered pet insurance. I was joking with him, but got caught up in whatever was going on and he left without the clarification that it was a joke.

 

Of course, he asked, the employer thought he was weird for asking, and he didn't get the job.

 

I couldn't stop laughing. This was years ago, and I'm still laughing. I'm horrible, I know.

 

The kicker? WE DON'T EVEN HAVE PETS that would need any kind of insurance. We have fish. Very inexpensive fish. I spend more on decor and filtration and food than I do on the actual fish. 

 

(He did get a good, if not better job soon after, praise God, so the story is not a sad one.)

 

OP, I hope you find what you need. Sorry I couldn't be helpful.

 

ETA: That reminds me, the above event made DH think pet insurance was not a thing, but his current employer actually offers a plan for it. Its buried in the benefits package though. Maybe your DH has something offered by his employer? 

Edited March 25, 2017 by Dust

[gingersmom]

I have www.gopetplan.com for 6 years. I have gotten my money's worth in reimbursements :)

[Pawz4me]

We can get a discount on VPI through DH's work. I periodically run the numbers on that and other companies, but I've never been able to make it make sense for us. We maintain a pet fund, depositing a little into our savings account each pay period to cover routine expenses and some for unexpected things. Works for us.

[Spryte]

I'm not sure what type of insurance here, but a local vet here tried to hard sell us on a plan. It was  $850 per year.  It would have covered the basic visits and emergencies.  We passed.  

 

I would like to find that magical insurance that's affordable with good coverage, too!  

[Tanaqui]

And no, there is no magical insurance.  Maybe your dog can get a job that includes healthcare benefits.    :lol:

 

Apparently, an increasing number of jobs are actually offering pet insurance as a perk! But no dice there either.

 

[Lanny]

<snip>

 

So what do you use? I want the magical insurance that costs pennies per month, but provides 100% reimbursement on everything, with no copay or deductible. Barring that, insurance that is reasonably priced and covers both routine and emergency care will do nicely.

 

Yes, that is the magical insurance the House and Senate members in DC would love to provide for humans...

 

I did have Pet insurance for the last dog I had in TX (the one who emigrated to Colombia at the age of 12 1/2).  I think that I picked up the brochure about it on the Receptionist desk of my vet there.  I believe it depends upon the age of the dog and that the dog must be in good health when they issue the policy.  I did use it at least once.  There was an issue where my vet referred me to an Internal Medicine Vet.  I think the insurance paid part of her bill (or, probably, reimbursed me). That   particular issue was something the local vet. was contemplating sending me with the dog to the Vet. school at Texas A&M University. Thankfully, after the Internal Medicine Vet. mentioning the possibility of "Exploratory surgery" (which I am normally opposed to but know is occasionally necessary), when she was examining the dog, she found a Tick.  That was in Winter. The dog had been tested, probably several times, for a Tick borne disease, but the tests were Negative. No surgery was necessary and the dog died when she was 15 years old. 

 

This was years ago but I think I paid something like $50 or $100 a year for the coverage. I can't remember what it cost or what the deductible, etc., was.

 

I would look into the stability of the company that issues any pet insurance before buying it and I would probably ask my vet which companies s/he has experience with.  I doubt that companies who issue Pet Insurance are regulated by your State Insurance Commission so you are on your own here...

[Tanaqui]

I doubt that companies who issue Pet Insurance are regulated by your State Insurance Commission so you are on your own here.

 

 

Why wouldn't they be? It's a type of property insurance, no different from any other property insurance except that some of us call that property "fur babies".

 

[Lanny]

Why wouldn't they be? It's a type of property insurance, no different from any other property insurance except that some of us call that property "fur babies".

 

I moved from TX 22 years ago, but I seriously doubt at that time that they had time to regulate things like Pet insurance. At that time, for example, the State Insurance Commission wrote the Automobile and Homeowners policies. So, you could call 2 or 3 different companies and get a rate for "Form A" or "Form B" or something like that, and you were comparing "Apples to Apples" and getting quotes on the same coverage.    I believe the State Insurance Commissions are interested in Health, Disability, Auto, and Homeowners insurance policies, and not on Pet insurance or Extended Warranties, but that varies, I'm sure, with each state and with time.   

[StephanieZ]

FWIW, as the owner and business manager of a vet hospital . . . I've watched this market with curiosity for over a decade . . .

 

Companies come and go . . . Every couple years there is a new company, who some vets think will be *the one* . . .

 

Without fail, within a couple years of getting popular, everyone hates the new company . . .

 

because, without fail, rates go up and up, older and sicker pets lose coverage, expensive and surprising ailments are excluded because they are genetically related (as are MANY/most conditions), conditions are considered 'preexisting conditions' and so not covered . . . even when a pet has been on the same company for many years (because, for instance, they consider it a new policy at each yearly renewal, so the cancer that was diagnosed 3 months before year end is not covered on next year's policy  . . . companies become more and more difficult to get to process a claim -- for owner and for vets . . . 

 

It seems obvious to me that, on average, owners would be MUCH MUCH better served by simply saving $x/mo in a dedicated pet savings account. Most of these policies are 50-100/mo in premiums, and those don't cover routine matters such as wellness care, dentistry, etc. Most families would be able to provide all the care they wanted if they simply saved that 50-100/mo in a medical emergency account . . . especially if they added another 200-500/yr that they'd have been paying in copays, deductibles, and wellness care . . . 

 

Every year or two, the new and popular pet insurance company makes a hard sell to us, as a vet hospital, to promote their product. I take a bit of time to research them . . . and then decide, OK, if it's really this good, it'll be even better and a *proven* product in 2-4 years . . . So I'll wait a bit before asking our clients to consider this . . . NOT ONE TIME has the "big new great" company still had a good reputation once it had been in business for a couple years. Haven't marketed insurance to our clients yet . . . and I doubt I will, ever. 

 

I can see the rationale for wanting insurance . . . I love our family's dental insurance, so I get it . . . It's good for the businesses as their clients then are more willing to follow through with expensive recommended care . . . and good for the clients to have predictable expenses . . . and good for the pets if they get needed care . . . BUT, so far, no insurance company has been able to reliably offer a good product at a reasonable price. (Those who did went out of business or changed their offerings for the worse within a few short years.)

 

That's my 2c. I think it's a scam, in general, and I'd avoid it.